Browse by Label: REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)

Artist:	WINDO, PAM & GARY
Title:	Avant Gardeners
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 001CD

"Pam and Gary Windo were coupled in spirit with a private passion for the musical road less traveled. During their marriage, Gary taught Pam how to approach the piano as an 'expressive extension of life,' the aesthetic which informed his mastery of the tenor saxophone. Their mutual support flowered into numerous compositions for various recording projects, while journeys into the realm of free improvisation remained private. In 1976, an opportunity to perform at the Maidstone College of Art as a duo allowed them to bring along the rhythm section from the Brotherhood of Breath, bassist Harry Miller and drummer Louis Moholo for a set. Gary captured this concert by placing on stage a consumer reel-to-reel tape recorder and stereo microphone. In addition, an extraordinary private home session with the magnificent percussionist from Ovary Lodge, Frank Perry, was recorded. Reel Recordings has meticulously remastered and edited 40 minutes of explosive and exploratory episodes of moments frozen in time. With friends in tow, the extant recordings of Gary and Pam Windo soaring in improvisational flight, with gale force winds in their slipstream can now be experienced. Avant Gardeners is a vital, visceral listen, rooted in love and passion."

Artist:	AYERS AND THE WHOLE WORLD, KEVIN
Title:	Hyde Park Free Concert 1970
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 002CD

"Kevin Ayers: define as you please, the songs, the singer. The Whole World: organist David Bedford, saxophonist Lol Coxhill, bassist Mike Oldfield, and on this occasion, drummer Robert Wyatt. While the BBC sessions broadcast other sides of the Whole World that produced their classic Shooting at the Moon album, this summer 1970 Hyde Park Free Concert recording brings to life a deliriously heavy, heady rock experience in overdrive! How else to handle Kevin's Soft Machine classics 'Did It Again' and 'Why Are We Sleeping.' Arguably, few other groups from this era offered such eclectic musical experiences and personalities, occasioned by legendary lapses of public professionalism. Restored as fully as possible from a two-track copy, Hyde Park Free Concert 1970 is presented with the fond endorsement of a former festival Jester."

Artist:	FITZ-GERALD & LOL COXHILL, G.F.
Title:	Echoes of Duneden
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 003CD

"Gerry F. Fitz-Gerald is a Scottish-born guitarist, possessed with kaleidoscopic imagination and commanding ability for improvisational music conversation. Lol Coxhill is a British legend, internationally recognized for his inimitable soprano saxophone sounds and situational performance art. Gerry's discography rests with his psychedelic rock masterpiece 'Mouseproof,' a contribution for Guitar Solos II album (with Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Hans Reichel), and Coxhill's Fleas in Custard record, while Lol's catalog is now a published book. In 1975, the duo resided with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, welcoming unsuspecting audiences for 'An Evening of Improvised Music and Confused Humor.' The concerts were beautifully recorded, and Gerry edited the many hours of music at Tom Newman's barge studio, only to have the resulting program shelved by Virgin Records. These master tapes present Lol's soprano saxophone and Gerry's electric guitar with great accuracy and presence. This is eccentric music-making, presented as 'Three Fairy Dances,' brimming with buoyancy and painted with cohesive sound colors. Echoes of Duneden invites an intimate experience to the open-hearted listener."

Artist:	HYDER'S TALISKER, KEN
Title:	Dreaming of Glenisla
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 004CD

"Drummer Ken Hyder left his Dundee, Scotland home during the summer of 1970, and headed for the London jazz scene, where he quickly found himself replacing Robert Wyatt on the vacated throne of Mal Dean's Amazing Band. Study with John Stevens led to his playing with numerous different cutting-edge musicians at John's Little Theater Club, which was the center of new music in the 1970s. Soon Hyder founded his own band, Talisker, focusing on spontaneously improvised music and traditional Scottish folk music, with both aesthetics being mutually informed. The instrumentation driven by Ken was unique: paired double bass and paired reeds (alto, tenor, clarinets) with voices and whistles. In 1975, Talisker recorded their debut album, the breathtakingly beautiful Dreaming of Glenisla, which was released on the Virgin subsidiary, Caroline Records. By turns serene and sensuous, impassioned and celebratory, this magnificent marriage of musical styles ultimately proves seamless. However, Dreaming of Glenisla's success was more than musical; with micro and macro-dynamics gloriously preserved, it stands among the finest acoustic recordings of its generation. This long-awaited reissue of Ken Hyder's classic album is augmented with previously unreleased studio recordings of his grand quintet, Talisker."

Artist:	RUSSELL, RAY
Title:	Secret Asylum
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 005CD

"Ray Russell is a composer whose wild explorations and sonic extensions of the electrified guitar set him aside from the famed British guitar heroes of the late '60s and '70s. Ray's rhythm and blues roots with The John Barry Seven, Georgie Fame, and the Graham Bond Organisation were set aside by the urgent call of the free jazz movement, and a succession of classic recordings (Turn Circle, Dragon Hill, Rites & Rituals, Live at the ICA, The Running Man) gave rise to his most challenging and ultimately rewarding suite of spectral sounds, the magnificent Secret Asylum. As always, percussionist Alan Rushton batters beyond belief alongside the darting double bass of Daryl Runswick, with Harry Beckett playing inimitable figurines from his flugelhorn. The quintet is finalized by tenor titan Gary Windo who gives the last word in whirlwind intensity. Throughout the journey, Secret Asylum presents sonic caresses and searing assaults from all its featured participants, and its success has yet to be equalled."

Artist:	OSBORNE, MIKE
Title:	Force Of Nature
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 006CD

Mike Osborne (1941-2007) was an alto saxophonist without a peer among his fellow British country men, a musician of profound personality with a gift for jazz composition. Mike was first heard in the '60s as a soloist of incendiary character in the Mike Westbrook Concert Band, and his never less than passionate sound was ubiquitous throughout the heyday of British jazz in the 1970s. He recorded and performed extensively with the leading composers of the era; Chris McGregor, Michael Gibbs, and Barry Guy. With John Surman and Alan Skidmore, "Ozzie," as he was affectionately known by friends, formed the celebrated saxophone trio SOS, while also leading numerous bands under his own name. It's no secret that Mike Osborne suffered from schizophrenia, and in 1983, circumstances forced his retreat from London, robbing both Mike and his audience of further music-making. In 2007, Reel Recordings approached Mike's guardian with recently uncovered Hi-Fidelity recordings of the Osborne Quartet in the early 1980s, a hitherto undocumented period. Mike was delighted to hear the music back and blessed Force Of Nature with deep admiration for his fellow musicians; trumpeter Dave Holdsworth, bassist Marcio Mattos, and drummer Brian Abrahams. Together they blend the base ingredients of melody, harmony and rhythm toward boiling points beyond belief. To wit, there's also the quartet's non-stop 42-minute performance before an appreciative audience in Cologne, Germany. Included is a live-in-studio set with the muscular rhythm section of Paul Bridge (1940-2001) and Tony Marsh. Together, these recordings provide proof positive that music from Mike Osborne truly is a Force Of Nature.

Artist:	MILLER TRIO, STEVE
Title:	Meets Elton Dean
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 007CD

British pianist Steve Miller (1943-1998) formed his trio in the mid-'80s after a lengthy hiatus for technique re-evaluation. With young bassist Tony Moore and AMM drummer Eddie Prevost, Steve was now able to improvise freely, sans traces of his deep roots in blues and boogie. With time spent in Delivery and Caravan well behind him, Steve's new path led to a weekly series of concerts billed as "Meetings With Remarkable Saxophonists." At London's Bull & Gate, the diverse talents of Lol Coxhill, Harrison Smith, Elton Dean (1945-2006) and Bobby Wellins rose to meet the spontaneous challenge of improvised music-making, with all performances professionally recorded on high speed tape. This special success was the splendid meeting of altoist Elton Dean and the Steve Miller Trio. Two extended sets of continuous collective improvisation, strongly rooted in the powerful modern jazz aesthetic, comprise this nearly hour-long CD. With rare concert photos and notes from Steve complimenting this important document, the Steve Miller Trio Meets Elton Dean is indeed a musical meeting to be treasured.

Artist:	SOFT HEAP
Title:	Al Dente
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 008CD

This is a rare concert recording of Soft Heap -- the personal acronym for an assemblage of old UK musician friends who assembled at the Phoenix Club in London in 1978. Bass guitarist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist Elton Dean (1950-2006) began their long musical partnership during their days with the classic Soft Machine quartet. Keyboardist Alan Gowen (1947-1981) and drummer Pip Pyle (1945-2006) became friends when their respective bands, Gilgamesh and Hatfield & The North, coalesced for special concerts in 1973. Apart from their eponymous record, Soft Heap only gave two concerts in London prior to Alan and Pip reconvening to carry on as National Health. Fortunately, their appearance at London's then-premier jazz club, The Phoenix, was recorded onto reel-to-reel tape by audience member Roy Wilbraham. It preserves a striking set of compositions played with panache, beginning with a tender reading of Elton's "Fara" and climaxing with an exhilarating chase through "Seven For Lee." The recording also reveals a hitherto unreleased composition, Alan Gowen's "Sleeping House." This full-length CD is one tasty listening experience, for those with a soft spot for Soft Heap, to sink their teeth into.

Artist:	AYERS, KEVIN
Title:	What More Can I Say...
Label:	REEL RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	REELR 009CD

Kevin Ayers is one of UK rock's greatest contributors, both as a key member of Soft Machine as their original bassist/vocalist, and later as a collaborator with noted prog musicians Mike Oldfield and Steve Hillage. This is a collection of recently-discovered private demo recordings and out-takes straight from Kevin Ayers' personal archives -- a refreshing reminder of a musical innocence unique to the 1970s. Much more than nuggets from a golden era, these songs remain compellingly personal in their simplicity, and sit alongside sunny instrumentals featuring friends David Bedford, Mike Oldfield, Archie Leggett (1944-1997) and Robert Wyatt. Of special note is the 14-minute private demonstration for the "Doctor Dream"suite, a stunning "audio letter" synopsis with acoustic performances and wry commentary. Never has Kevin Ayers' voice and guitar been captured in such natural intimacy. These beautifully recorded reel-to-reel tapes are an indispensable portrait of an artist as a young man. Or to convey the response from manager Tim Shepard, "this is Kevin's Holy Grail!" What more can we say?

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